 |
featured article
|
|
Swine Flu and the Future of Viral Biology
Mother Earth (Gaia) through Pepper Lewis |
I cannot help but imagine that what we know thus far about the Swine Flu, also known as the H1N1 may not be accurate. Can you please give us some relevant background information about this virus?
As far as viruses go, this is not a new one, and is in fact several million years old. In different times and seasons it has been known by other names and has taken on different characteristics. Its reemergence at this time is neither remarkable nor surprising given the stress and strain that all organic manner and matter is under. In order to understand this virus it would be helpful to know how viruses in general interact with humanity and with other species, as well as why they instill such fear in those who study them.
First off, it is important to remember that the purpose of life is life itself. Of course, you may also be a seeker of a developed awareness, an expanded consciousness, and other physical and non-physical pursuits. But the purpose of all created things [beings] is to live. In order to further that purpose all things [beings] must evolve and one of the best ways to do that is by adapting to as many different environments as possible. All life follows the same laws and abides by the same rule of law. Universal Law does not play favorites though at times, and owing to limited or incomplete perceptions, it can appear to favor one species over another. For example, the sudden and near complete decimation of the dinosaur population might lead you to believe that every type and variety had fallen from grace, and all at once at that.
Simply put, viruses are minute bits of cellular DNA and RNA. Some of them are older than any memories you might access, and some are even older than my own memories as they have made their way to earth from elsewhere longer ago than can be accurately detected. The oldest viruses upon the earth (including those that are currently dormant) are several billion years old. For perspective, the newest are several million years old. As an aside, please note that a "retrovirus" does not indicate age, but a process that reverses the normal flow of information within a cell.
Viruses carry the genetic material of their original hosts as well as that of every other host they have known, and they are clever enough to copy themselves and reinvent themselves many times over. Most known viruses, particularly those that have infected the human and animal kingdom, were transferred to their host via mosquitoes and their ancestors, some of which were quite large! In order decode and disarm a virus it would be helpful to study its history including its complete ancestry. Given its current understanding of this science, humanity does not yet have this ability. Although a virus does not purposefully set out to infect an organism, it basically does just that in order to survive - to live.
Viruses can and do infect almost every kind of organism. Bacteria are no exception, neither are plants, animals or people. Viruses are part of evolution itself, and some viruses are even an integral part of a given genome. Most viruses are nasty, contagious and worth avoiding at all costs, but some are actually beneficial and have aided the survivability of their hosts at specific junctures in their development. Without the presence of specific viruses, certain whales and dolphins could not have adapted to earth's oceans. Furthermore, humanity itself might have evolved differently had it not been "infected' at unique and specific turning points.
Although the presence of a new viral strain is not an evolutional marker, it is indicative of this possibility, particularly if it contains both old and new information. In other words, a virus's ability to mutate (evolve) is indicative of its host's ability to do the same. Whether or not that happens is up to the relationship established by the host and the virus that has invaded it. Many parasitic life forms have adapted quite well over time and have even benefited their hosts in many ways. Perhaps you will not think ill of Gaia for suggesting that some of your own theories suggest that humanity has managed to perfect the "virus lifestyle" as regards its relationship to the earth. The relationship between a host and its guest is an important one where evolution is concerned, and an ancient one at that. Perhaps this would be an appropriate place to mention that viruses have in fact been responsible for episodes of rapid and significant change, especially in more complex types of organisms.
H1N1, the Swine Flu (under its current name) is fairly recalcitrant as viruses go. If we could assign it a personality we might say that it is stubborn, resists authority, is difficult to tame or control, and is unruly in its organization. These characteristics frighten and frustrate those who study viruses as well as those whose job it is to slow or stop and prevent them. It is not a virus that will sell its secrets cheaply or easily. It will challenge even the brightest mind to decode it. As far as viruses go, this particular strain is not the virulent killer that some have supposed, but it is part of the same family, and its more infectious and hostile cousin looms in humanity's near future.
Humanity is at a crossroads in its evolution. This has been said many times and in as many different ways. Humanity does not stand alone in this endeavor as it shares the evolutional stage with almost every species upon earth. One or more forces, natural and otherwise, are acting upon the composition of every known element upon the earth and it would be unwise to assume that life will continue in its current form. Again, the purpose of life is life - and it falls within humanity's purpose to find the meaning of life in all things and all moments, without exception.
Did the virus really reach epidemic proportions? Did it actually become a pandemic?
Assuming the definition of an epidemic is a quick, extensive and unexpected spread of an outbreak or disease, then yes. But under the same assumption, complications associated with the common cold would also qualify, as would other viruses that are not currently being tracked. A pandemic, being the same epidemic, but now spread over a larger population and geographic area. Given that many countries were alerted and involved in the process, this outbreak could be called a pandemic, yet under a flag of caution I would suggest that nearly one-third of those diagnosed with H1N1 were misdiagnosed, and another third likely talked their cells into mutating to the newer, more exotic dis-ease.
Did the quarantines and preventive measures established by the various agencies and governments have a positive or negative effect upon the population of the world? To what degree would it have spread if these measures had not been put in place?
The virus was designed to be quickly discovered and contained, rather than to be spread over a great distance. Although measures were put in place to isolate the virus, they were not enforced as they are under an ordered quarantine. The health agencies involved were unsure of what to say or do, therefore the governments they advised were equally uncertain. As little was done to prevent the spread of the outbreak, it could also be seen as a controlled study. Left unchecked it would have received only local mention.
If I read between the lines I can almost detect a hint suggesting that the outbreak was not a real one?
The outbreak was real, but it was not substantial. It was not invented, but likely inserted. Artificial threats, real or otherwise, often appear to be too real. There is no need to hint at this. It is a common occurrence in your timeline.
Did the media overexposure help or hinder the flow of information? How much misinformation were we subjected to where this subject is concerned?
n many parts of the world, even first world countries, the media could be considered an extended branch of the government. Just as in an extended family, members quarrel with one another and expose each others worse side, but in the end they come together as the family they are and speak as one, even while proclaiming their independence and individuality. In this occasion as in others the media did what it does best, provide ample coverage of a given subject until saturation turns public interest elsewhere. It does not matter whether saturation occurs via information or misinformation, as these are virtually the same.
What can we do to better inform ourselves so that we do not have to depend upon controlled information or misinformation? Is the Internet a better source? The medical community?
Do not blame a lion for feeding upon a zebra. It is a hunter and it must eat. Likewise, do not place blame upon the media for being what it is and doing what it does. News is a commodity; it is product. The media promotes the products and services of their advertisers to you and it also offers its own products for your consideration. In both cases you are being influenced to buy something, but the choice is still yours - buy all of it, some of it or none of it.
In all things it is best to know yourself. Know your SELF. Know what you are and what you are made of. Know what your cells and molecules are made of. If you seek intelligence as regards your body then begin there. Become aware of your body's cellular and molecular structure. Study the relationship between thought and experience. One moment of self-influenced, pure intelligence is worth a year of digesting and processing information. A well-organized, intelligent structure nurtures and supports every system of your body. Your body is subject to a variety of environmental influences and toxins, but beyond and beneath these resides a system of pure and divine intelligence that has existed for a millennium and before then as well. Begin by trusting in this.
The Internet is an extensive living body of information. Misinformation dwells in the same body. The word "living" is accurate in so far as material is constantly being added, subtracted and changed and exchanged in imitation of the breath. It is an organism that survives based upon what it is fed. It is a useful tool for the time and will continue to evolve as such. Eventually it will become something else altogether. The present form will remain for a time as an elementary teacher of sorts, but will later become a museum that is maintained for historians, archaeologists and forensic scientists.
The medical community will soon come face to face with its own dilemmas. It is best that it do so before the next crisis or the one beyond it will insist upon it. This loosely based community of semi-educated professionals has much to learn if it is to help humanity bridge the many gaps that lead to the evolution of a grand species. As long as it continues to ignore the biological intelligence that creates and maintains the body it will be of little use to a quickly evolving and mutating species. Perhaps you have noticed a relationship between the increase in pharmaceutical/surgical solutions and the decline of health in almost every segment on the population.
Fill your minds with intelligence rather than information. Make decisions based upon acquired knowledge and experience. Trust a wisdom that is timeless. Allow your imagination to fascinate you with visions of a near future that is self-healing and self-teaching. Too many are expecting the worse of times now. It is still possible to expect the best of times and to live them. The exploration of worse case scenarios may very well bring them about. It is good to be well prepared, but even better to prepare the vessel for wellness.
What else can we know about how to prepare? What are we preparing for?
Begin with the obvious. It is good to have a sound roof over one's home. Likewise, it is good to have sound thoughts and soothing words to guide you. If the daily news disturbs you, curtail its influence upon your day. Events that contribute to humanity's well-being also shape the day's landscape, but these are often overlooked in favor of sensational headlines. Insulation is another important step in home building. Likewise, insulate your body by nourishing it from within and without. Begin each day with gentle thoughts about yourself and others. Does this guidance sound too obvious? On any given day the cells in the body number in the trillions, therefore every thought and feeling you have is multiplied nearly 100 trillion times. How many thoughts do you imagine you might have on an average day? A well-developed mind is capable of processing over 60,000 thoughts a day. Less developed minds process 10,000 to 80,000 thoughts a day, most of them inconsistent and incomplete fragments. Approximately eighty percent of these are negative thoughts about oneself, others, or life in general. Assuming only a fraction of these statistics are correct, it is safe to say that one's own thoughts may prove more formidable that a flu virus.
Consider for a moment that those who contracted the swine flu may have done so because their own conditioned thoughts influenced (infected) their cells. A common cold can be influenced to become influenza, and a flu virus can be influenced to mutate into a more dangerous version of itself. Thoughts are malignant or benign. Your thoughts about yourself and the world you live in build and rebuild the human body you live in every day. Who is the keeper of your castle? Who keeps watch at the gate to ensure that healthful thoughts, feelings, relationships and activities are present? What system have you left in place for when you forget and become unconscious in this regard?
Assuming we take to heart all that you have suggested (and we do) will we be immune from the more harmful effects of this and other viruses, or will we still need to be vaccinated?
At this time there is no specific cure for the flu. Some antiviral medicines can relieve or lessen the severity of the symptoms, but only modestly so. It is best to focus on methods of prevention that increase immunity. The health of the body is somewhat dependent upon the strength of its immune system. A flu vaccine consists of spent fragments of other viruses. Antigens (provoking elements) in the vaccine stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies (protein molecules) to defend against a virus. A vaccine may be effective against a specific flu virus, but not all flu viruses. Antibodies can remain dormant for many years and awaken when the sensitized immune system recognizes the introduction of the virus or not at all if the virus is not introduced.
Most species have both innate (natural and nonspecific) and adaptive (responds after the fact) systems that resist disease. Innate immune mechanisms hinder the entrance and spread of bacteria, but cannot prevent it entirely. Adaptive immunity is more specific, but requires the physical presence of the bacteria (infection). Vaccines currently under development are designed to increase both lines of defense so that exposure to a virus, even years later, will illicit an immediate response from the immune system. Unfortunately, during testing, the memory of the original virus has at times remained unrefined, making it difficult for the immune system to accurately recognize the offending substance and to separate it from other beneficial bacteria. In some cases, the vaccine cannot tell the difference between one virus and another. In other cases, after the vaccine was introduced the immune system had difficulty recognizing good bacteria from bad.
Vaccines currently on the market are adequate at best, and are only suitable in treating known and predictable flu viruses. They offer little or no support for newer or more dangerous viruses. The side effects of current vaccines are mild by comparison, but a larger than imagined segment of the population will still have an adverse reaction to antigen when it enters the body. In some cases the antigens may not stimulate the production of antibodies at all and the infection could become severe. It is important that the binding of antibodies to bacteria, viruses and other toxins take place as soon as possible in order to inactivate them. Current vaccines are able to weaken the surfaces of the bacteria, rendering them vulnerable, but if the process does not neutralize them entirely they can reemerge as a different virus altogether.
Most species do not have antibodies to substances to which they have not been exposed, but once a virus has been introduced, the species is able to produce several different kinds of antibodies to fit the molecular arrangement of most foreign substances. In other words, the body can rearrange itself to invent its own vaccine-like response, even to a new virus. Humanity the species can do this as well, but only to a certain degree, because it no longer depends upon nature to guide it. Humanity's thoughts about itself, its longevity and its ability to care for its own body has changed over time, it has become conditioned to believe that a medical practitioner and/or professional institution holds the keys to its health. Artificial thoughts engage a synthetic response from the body rather than a natural one, making the entire population of the world more susceptible to viruses than it would be otherwise.
Is this why viruses are able to jump species barriers now? Aside from the Swine Flu and the Avian Flu are there other viruses we should be aware of?
Species that are closely related and/or share a significant amount of DNA are subject to sharing common viruses or virus mutations. Closely related species share similar pathogens. Species that live in close proximity to one another, even distantly related species, can also be candidates for cross over, but this should rarely be cause for concern. Animal flu viruses don't usually present a threat to humans. Most often, the virus remains in its host species, and even if it does adapt and infect a human, it is not passed from that person to the next. But the earth is currently experiencing a time of amplified evolution, a window in which great changes are possible. Shifts in polarity encourage variations in species and these will naturally strengthen some species and weaken others.
Most flu varieties spend several years in the incubation cycle before symptoms begin to emerge. The current outbreak of flu contained more human virus than swine flu, so the combination was not a deadly one. In this case, the swine virus was transferred to the human and the human virus was transferred to some of the pig population. Both viruses co-existed for a time and shared each other's properties. This "reassortment", or exchange of genetic material is not uncommon and is no cause for alarm. It would be helpful for scientists to study this phenomenon more closely, because hybrid viruses are not as easy for the immune system to detect or tackle. Viruses that are not easily detectable by the immune system mutate more quickly and travel through populations much faster, increasing the rate of infection exponentially and the mortality rate as a result. It is most important therefore to strengthen one's immune system by every appropriate method.
Are homeopathy and other preventive therapies helpful?
Originally, homeopathy was based upon discovering the underlying cause of disease and treating it by increasing the healing powers of the patient. A homeopathic prescription included a healthy diet, exercise, fresh air and minimal amounts of medication. Today, homeopathy is rarely a singular approach and it is often combined with other alternatives or as a complement to clinical or conventional medicine. Many homeopathic remedies are useful in the treatment of viruses, but because their introduction to the body is often in minute amounts, their effect can be quite subtle. Homeopathy is of most benefit when the cause of the discomfort is known; these viruses will not yield this information immediately, and sometimes not even after careful study. It is best to be well informed and to administer these carefully.
Most flu viruses can be destroyed by a quotient of ultra-violet sunlight. Even dry air will render a virus non-infectious. Soap and very hot water are another alternative. Are these therapies or common sense? Light and sound therapy is also helpful in the strengthening of one's immune system. It is best to maintain one's health in the present moment rather than after the fact.
Would artificial [man-made] viruses be treated in the same way?
This question is a subject that cannot be adequately addressed here, but for purposes of identification a man-made virus relates to a product of human endeavor, usually in an attempt to mimic or replicate nature. Humanity's growing mistrust of the very systems it has invented has led to a different kind of epidemic, a systemic virus of its own making (man made) that will eventually lead to a rather surprising outcome. This is some years in your future and the effects upon humanity are not yet structured or linear. It is a subject better put to the generations that will have a strategic impact upon that which will define their generations.
There are many man-made viruses in circulation today with more to come.
Those whose work extends beyond current scientific barriers cannot help but push the envelope into uncharted territory. Although some of the work could be considered sinister in nature, not all of it is. Like it or not, humanity's interest in technology has led to a variety of virtual scenarios, many of which include synthetic materials, situations and beings. Synthetic material is used in the body to replace or support defective natural material, and xenografting is becoming more commonplace. When synthetic things are made to mimic natural things, at least a part of them becomes so, that is why great care must be taken and especially so during times of evolutional distress. Evolutional growth includes selection, and selection includes mutation. That which cannot evolve naturally will evolve unnaturally when survival is the key. Selection ensures that mutations will increase a virus' ability to survive and reproduce in greater numbers in the next generation.
Mutations are necessary in evolution because they provide the genetic variation on which selection acts. Another word for viral evolution is antigenic shift, as opposed to antigenic drift, which occurs slowly and without a necessary change in gene associations. The science behind these mutational effects may be of little interest to the layperson, but the consequences are. The median age of attack where mutational viruses are concerned is between 25 and 28 years of age. Symptoms include psychological as well as sensory problems, poor muscle coordination, mental confusion, lethargy and depression. The reproductive organs may also be affected in the short term or longer. The strength of the individual's immune system will determine the length of time of the attack, but a thirteen-month cycle would not be considered extreme.
Is a shadow conspiracy to blame? Partly, but that is too simple a conclusion to draw and leaves little to examine where personal responsibility is concerned. Greater clues will be revealed, as the expanded effects of nanomaterials are better understood. Nanomaterials are compounds that are synthesized to resemble a substance naturally occurring in the body. Biomimetic robots, the next generation in biologically inspired neuro and nanotechnology will also play a significant role in the eradication of some viruses with the unintended effect of the introduction of newer ones. Current research is aimed at developing a new class of biologically inspired robots that outperform nature in unstructured environments.
It will become increasingly difficult to study or know with any degree of certainty where a virus originally came from. The science of reverse engineering will be helpful to a certain degree, beginning with where the virus has just been before its most recent mutation. Viruses have their own intelligence networks and will communicate with you within a common environment and with the proper language translation protocol. Under optimal conditions the virus will tell you where it's going. The language and science of viral evolution is an important one and its study at this time would be of paramount value to present day humanity and those who will succeed its present biology.
back to top
|
|
